HE WOMEN WHO SET HER ON THE RIGHT PATH
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Gemma chatted to Jones have never met Nicola Sturgeon but I’ve heard her talk and really like her. She even tweetedtweete how much she loved a prograprogramme I made for my BBC Radio 4 Sound Odyssey series up on Lewis.Lewi How cool is that?
“I would love to sit down and do a proper interview with NNicola.”
Gemma got her big break when, after a 12-week radio coursecour and a stint interviewing bandbands for a podcast series, she auditionedauditio for an MTV presenter search anda met Radio 1’s Trevor Nelson on the judging panel. He turned herhe down but saw somsomething in hher. One a f ternoonter he rang to ssay his co-host at 1Xtra was leaving,leavin and said she should audition for the position. She’s been at theth BBC ever since: from Nelson’s 1Xtra show to the weekday morningmorn slot and then as the host of ThThe Surgery,gery, which launched her career as young people’s champion.champi
Gemma, who’s also knownkno for
BBC Glastonbury coverage, said: “I became an accidental activist for young people. It happened because I was working in youth culture at quite a young age.
“I was presenting the Radio 1 Surgery – basically a problem page on air. I started to be asked to front campaigns for charities like Women’s Aid and be part of women of the world festivals. I found myself in situations where I had to speak out and it’s just grown.”
Gemma, who as an ambassador for Oxfam has raised more than
£26,000 for the charity’s
Rumble in the Jumble celebrity clothing sale, added: “I feel humbled to have been allowed to grow up and develop in a public arena, even though my life isn’t a hunky- dor y stor y.
Being given the opportunity to succeed, it made me compelled to work harder for others, especially those who haven’t got a voice.”
Since graduating from BBC Radio 1 in 2016, Gemma has successfully migrated to BBC 6 Music and Radio 4, where she has won awards for her documentaries including two Sony Golds and her interview with Grace Jones.
Gemma, who counts presenters Dawn O’Porter and Edith Bowman and singer Kate Nash among her many strong female friends, has also made hard- hitting TV documentaries.
In 2014 she made royal history by hosting a live Google hangout from Buckingham Palace with Princes William and Harry.
The eco-conscious broadcaster, who wears clothes at least 30 times before recycling, said: “Writing my book was life- changing. I bought a bus with my advance and took it on a tour around schools, where we did workshops.
“Growing up has always been messy but there seems to be an unrealistic pressure on young people today, resulting in a huge rise in self- harm, suicide and depression.
“It’s hard navigating identity when it is so distorted. How can we find out who we are when there is a pressure to be projecting a certain sense of self that is deemed as absolutely perfect?”
The young people’s champion, whose new series of The Leisure Society starts on BBC 6 Music on Sundays at 1pm next month, is looking forward to hosting our g l itter ing awards on Apr i l 2 3 at Edinburgh’s EICC.
She said: “Being a young superhero is a thankless job so it is my honour and privilege to show my appreciation for the next generation of talented young Scots.
“They deserve to be bigged up as they have so much on their shoulders yet in many ways they have got the world more sussed than the generations that came before and we can learn a lot from them.”
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